System and method for distributing and broadcasting multimedia

ABSTRACT

Multimedia distribution and broadcast systems and related processes are provided for transmitting multimedia contents and control information from a central uplink facility to a remote downlink via a satellite. The system is preferably implemented in order to generate sequences of multimedia that are broadcast from the remote downlink facility to viewers. The display arrangements of the multimedia sequences are varied and customized by each downlink facility using the control information in order to better inform and entertain viewers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to multimedia distribution andbroadcast systems, and particularly systems capable of transmittingmultimedia and media control information in analog or digital form froma central uplink facility to remotely located broadcast headendfacilities via a satellite or other data distribution systems. Moreparticularly, this invention relates to multimedia distribution andbroadcast systems capable of generating sequences of customizedmultimedia presentations that would be broadcast based on thetransmitted multimedia and media control information.

In response to need for distributing multimedia from a global source togeographically dispersed broadcasting facilities multimedia distributionand broadcast systems using satellites have become available to provideefficient and reliable delivery of multimedia. Satellite communicationutilizes a line-of-sight microwave relay in orbit high above the earthso as to cover large areas of the earth's surface. Satellitecommunication is particularly well suited for multiple-pointcommunications. Satellite communication thus provides a cost-effectiveway to distribute multimedia to headend facilities spread throughout thecountry because satellite receivers can be installed at the broadcastingfacilities without the high investment cost of terrestrial connections.

The multimedia distributed via such satellite communication links, forexample, include video clips of pay-per-view movies or sporting eventsthat can be broadcast by multiple cable operators to their cablesubscribers. Needless to say, these multimedia distribution systems arewelcomed by the cable operators because such services save the cableoperators from technical responsibilities for producing and maintainingvarious multimedia to be broadcast to subscribers. The multimediadistribution and broadcast systems may also add entertainment andinformational value to cable systems while increasing cable operators'revenues from premium services and pay-per-view events.

One concern of cable operators is that cable television subscribers havebegun to seek more sophisticated screen displays as they are exposed tothe more advanced multimedia presentations of personal computers.Television viewers therefore seek similar display formats for theirtelevisions that would provide more information and betterentertainment.

Another concern is that cable operators seek more sophisticatedscheduling capabilities for promotions in order to maximize returns fromtheir advertisements by positioning certain types of advertisements atparticular times of the day to reach certain types of cable subscribers.

For example, cable operators generally prefer to increase thefrequencies of promotions for events that are to be broadcast in thenear future. Cable operators also generally try to broadcast thepromotions at the most effective times to promote special/premium events(e.g., during prime time viewing hours).

Yet another concern of cable operators is that cable headend facilitieshave limited ways to input their preferences that determine the types ofpromotions to be broadcast to their particular subscribers. As cablesystems become more focused on providing tailored programs forparticular cable television subscribers, the cable operators desire toreflect their priorities and choices into the scheduling or display ofpromotions.

Still another concern is that the quality and variety of broadcastprogramming at the broadcasting facilities are limited by the extent ofthe multimedia received via a satellite. Therefore, cable operators notonly desire the most efficient use of the satellite transmission, butalso the most effective use of the transmitted multimedia.

Attempts have been made to provide multimedia distribution systemsemploying satellite communications. One system described in U.S. Pat.No. 5,216,515 provides for the overnight delivery of advertisingmessages to cable headends. The system allows automated and customizedinsertion of advertisements on multiple cable channels. However, thesystem is not capable of providing capability to distribute multimediaand utilize the same multimedia in various ways.

One commercially available promotion service, known as Sneak Prevue is apromotion distribution and broadcast system. The Sneak Prevue based ontapes has its video promotion transmitted over the satellite in the weehours in the morning from the uplink to the downlink. A system called acharacter generator located at the downlink screens such transmittedvideo promotions and records only pertinent portions. The Sneak Prevuebased on laser discs uses laser discs to deliver video information and,thus, has random ability to interrupt the normal play, for example, withthe promotions for upcoming events. In either of the Sneak Prevuesystems, the cable headend connected to the satellite downlinkbroadcasts to cable subscribers promotional videos overlaid with localinformation.

Although Sneak Prevue has been widely accepted by cable operators andcable subscribers, the service has certain limitations. For example,Sneak Preview has limited capability to present multimedia in variouspresentation formats.

Thus, it would be desirable to provide multimedia distribution andbroadcast systems and related processes in which the multimediapresentations can be improved by providing diverse display arrangementsand add entertainment and information values. It would also be desirablethat such display arrangements allow efficient utilization of a limitedset of multimedia without burdening the distribution process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this invention, multimedia distribution and broadcastsystems and related processes are provided which can generate sequencesof customized multimedia that can be broadcast to viewers. Themultimedia distribution and broadcast system comprises a central uplinkfacility and remote downlink facilities. Each downlink facility may befurther connected with, for example, cable television subscribers viacable connections. The central uplink facility is capable oftransmitting multimedia contents and control data in either digital oranalog form to the remote downlink facilities, for example, via asatellite. The multimedia contents and control data used in connectionwith the present invention are structured so that each downlink facilitymay generate multimedia sequences to be broadcast in customized displayarrangements. The cable headend facilities, for example, producepromotional programs from the received multimedia and broadcast thepromotional programs to their cable television subscribers. Theproperties of multimedia elements are used for linking differentmultimedia elements in order to generate multimedia sequences

Using the same set of multimedia, multimedia distribution and broadcastsystems and related processes allow creation of several differentdisplay arrangements. The multimedia sequences in various displayarrangements increase entertainment and information values of themultimedia sequences to be broadcast to viewers. The multimediadistribution and broadcast systems and processes of the presentinvention utilize predefined display arrangements called notebooks. Thenotebooks consist of sequences of one or more display pages where eachdisplay page has its own video, audio, background, text and othermultimedia elements to be displayed for a particular period of time. Thedisplay page of the notebooks may allow multiple videos to be displayedsimultaneously. For example, a display page may have multiple windows ona single screen where each window displays a different video clip. Thenotebooks may also provide a display having windows with differentsizes. The size of a window may be predetermined in a display page sothat the overlay does not obstruct a view of information presented inthe video. The notebooks are created at the central uplink facility andtransferred to the remote downlink facility as media control informationso as to relieve the downlink facilities from labor-intensive creationof various display formats.

The multimedia distribution and broadcast systems and processes of thepresent invention also provide a scheduling method that facilitateseffective and customized scheduling at the remote downlink facilities.The scheduling may reflect the preferences of the cable operatorslocated at downlink facilities for particular categories, titles andfrequencies of multimedia.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multimedia distribution and broadcastsystem of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a central uplink facility suitable forimplementing the multimedia distribution and broadcast system of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a remote downlink facility suitable forimplementing the multimedia distribution and broadcast of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 4-8 are block diagrams of an uplink database of FIG. 2illustrating the uplink database in greater detail;

FIGS. 9-11 are block diagrams of a downlink database of FIG. 3illustrating the downlink database in greater detail;

FIGS. 12-17 are exemplary screen displays which illustrate themultimedia sequences generated by the multimedia distribution andbroadcast system of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is an illustration of a scheduling process of the multimediadistribution and broadcast system of the present invention to create animplicit schedule;

FIG. 19 depicts an exemplary implicit schedule generated by the processillustrated in FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is an illustration of a scheduling process of the multimediadistribution and broadcast system of the present invention to convertthe implicit schedule of FIG. 20 into an explicit schedule;

FIG. 21 is a logic flow diagram representing, at a functional level, acontrol program for implementing the multimedia distribution andbroadcast system of the present invention at the central uplinkfacility; and

FIGS. 22-32 are logic flow diagrams representing, at a functional level,a control program for implementing the multimedia distribution andbroadcast system of the present invention at the cable headend facility.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A multimedia distribution and broadcast system 100 in accordance withthe invention is shown in FIG. 1. The multimedia distribution andbroadcast system 100 includes a central uplink facility 102, a satellite104 and at least one remote downlink facility 106. The central uplinkfacility 102 distributes multimedia contents and control information toat least one multiple downlink facility 106 via the satellite 104. Theremote downlink facility 106 may use the received multimedia and controlinformation to generate multimedia sequences to broadcast to viewers.For example, the remote downlink facility 106 may be further connectedto multiple cable television viewers who subscribe to the remotedownlink facility's cable television service. It should be understood,however, that although the invention is described in the context of aconventional cable television system, the principles described hereinalso apply to other broadcasting systems that are suitable for providingmultimedia presentation to viewers or data transmission systems. Also,it should be understood that although the invention is described in thecontext of promotional video distribution and broadcast, the principlesdescribed herein apply to other types of multimedia distribution andbroadcast. It should be also noted that the present invention mayutilize data distribution systems other than a satellite.

The central uplink facility 102 includes a satellite transmitter 108 andan uplink computer system 110. The uplink computer 110 collects themultimedia contents such as video (including transitional video,animation and graphical effects), audio, text and other multimediaelements. The received multimedia contents are typically converted bythe uplink computer 110 to be broadcast compatible. The uplink computersystem 110 also collects the control information. Some controlinformation is general to all remote downlink facilities such as atelevision program's title, telecast time (e.g., HBO schedules), programdescription, theme and channel. Other control information is morespecific to the remote downlink facilities such as the informationabout, a broadcasting format of a particular remote downlink facility106. Both multimedia contents and control information, are entered atthe uplink computer system 110 by manual data entry (e.g., a keyboard)or provided from outside sources via magnetic or optical storage (e.g.,tape, disk or CD ROM), modem link or any other suitable medium. Theuplink computer 110 consists of at least one server such as the“PROLIANT 4500” manufactured by COMPAQ located in Houston, Tex.

The central uplink facility 102 transmits the multimedia contents andappropriate control information to the remote downlink facility 106 viathe satellite 104 from the satellite transmitter 108. The satellitetransmitter 108 may be a digital transmitter such as the “701”manufactured by COMSTREAM located in San Diego, Calif.

The remote downlink facility 106 includes a satellite receiver 106 anddownlink computer system 114. The remote downlink facility 106 receivesthe multimedia contents and control information from the uplink facility102 via the satellite 104 at the satellite receiver 112. The satellitereceiver passes the received signals to the remote downlink computer114. The satellite receiver 112 may be a digital receiver such as the“INTELLICAST 80” manufactured by COMSTREAM located in San Diego, Calif.

The downlink computer system 114 generates' sequences of multimedia tobe broadcast, for example, to cable subscribers from these signalscontaining the multimedia contents and control information. Thesesequences generally include video that is overlaid by explanatory textand accompanied by audio. The downlink computer system 114 consists ofat least one server such as the “VIDEO SERVER 100” manufactured by SEACHANGE located in Manard, Mass.

As mentioned above, the satellite transmitter 104 transmits themultimedia contents and control information from the central uplinkfacility 102 to the remote downlink facility 106. However, each remotedownlink facility 106 is not likely to want to waste resources bystoring the multimedia contents and control information that do notpertain to itself. Therefore, one function performed by the downlinkcomputer system 114 is to select only the relevant and necessary portionof the transmitted data and discard the rest. Each remote downlinkfacility 106 thus receives and stores, for example, only the schedulesand videos that will be used by that particular remote downlink facility106. Another function of the downlink computer system 114 is detectingan error in the satellite transmission and requesting the uplinkcomputer system 110 to retransmit via a network connection or acommunication link 116 such as a telephone link.

Turning now to FIG. 2, the uplink computer system 110 suitable forimplementing the multimedia distribution and broadcast system 100 of thepresent invention is described in greater detail. The uplink computersystem 110 includes a multimedia capture unit 118, uplink control unit120, uplink database 122, modulator 124 and uplink modem 126. Variousmultimedia contents from outside sources are taken as inputs to themultimedia capture unit 118 and converted to digital data with anappropriate broadcasting format for later broadcasts. The multimediacapture unit 118 may be the “VELA ENCODER” or “VELA CENTAUR”manufactured by VELA RESEARCH located in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The uplink control unit 120 stores the encoded data in the uplinkdatabase 122. The uplink database 122 provides a file storage forstoring various multimedia contents such as video, audio and text aswell as control information in a digital format. The uplink database 122may include a CD ROM player, such as the “JUKEBOX” available from SONYlocated in Tokyo, Japan, for storing or accessing a desired videoportion in a random order. The multimedia contents include various videoclips of the promotions, for example, pay-per-view movies and sportingevents. The uplink database 122 may also include magnetic or opticalstorage, which stores various audio clips designed to accompanyappropriate video clips. The audio clips may have ties to the actualpromotion events or the data other than video clips so that the audioclips can be independently played without video. The uplink database 122may further include an appropriate storage device for text. The textinformation includes, for example, titles and prices of pay-per-viewmovies, names of actors or actresses, pay-per-view event descriptions,movie categories, national and local advertisements, movie ratings,order telephone numbers, order instructions, channel numbers or variousother information that can be used in conjunction with video and audioclips to construct promotional multimedia sequences. The structure andcontents of the uplink database 122 are described in greater detailherein below in reference to FIGS. 4-8.

The uplink control unit 120 selects the multimedia contents and controlinformation appropriate for transmission to the remote downlink facility106. The uplink control unit 120 also synchronizes selected video, audioand text in preparation for a satellite transmission. The packagedcomponents are subsequently modulated for transmission at the modulator124 and passed to the satellite transmitter 108 (FIG. 1) where they aretransmitted.

The uplink modem 126 forms a control feedback system that initiates aretransmission if data is lost in the satellite transmission. The uplinkmodem 126 is connected to the remote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) viaa landline connection 116 of a regular telephone network which enablesinexpensive feedback controls.

Turning now to FIG. 3, the cable headend computer 114 (FIG. 1) suitablefor implementing the multimedia distribution and broadcast system 100 ofthe present invention is described in greater detail. The cable headendcomputer 114 (FIG. 1) includes a demodulator 126, downlink control unit128, downlink database 130, channel modulator 132 and downlink modem134. The cable headend computer (FIG. 1) may also contain a servicemonitor 129 for reporting its activities to an operator. The transmittedsignals having the multimedia contents and control information arereceived by the satellite receiver 112 (FIG. 1) and passed to thedemodulator 126. The signals are subsequently demodulated at thedemodulator 126 and converted to the multimedia contents and controlinformation at the downlink control unit 128. The downlink control unit128 subsequently stores the extracted multimedia contents and controlinformation in the downlink database 130. Upon receiving and storing themultimedia contents and control information, the downlink control unit128 processes the multimedia contents and control information in orderto generate sequences of promotional multimedia to be broadcast.

In addition to generating multimedia sequences, the downlink controlunit 128 runs a local customization process. For example, the text datafor local advertisements can be added to customize the multimediasequences. Such changes may be seen on a service monitor (not shown)attached to the cable headend control unit 128. The multimedia sequencesare modulated for broadcasting at the channel modulator 126 andbroadcast to viewers.

As discussed briefly above, the downlink modem 134 is connected to theuplink modem 126 (FIG. 2) via a regular telephone network for monitoringthe satellite transmission. If a transmission error for missing data isdetected, the downlink control unit 128 notifies the uplink control unit120 (FIG. 2) of this error via the connection 116. In addition, thedownlink control unit 128 periodically dials up the central uplinkfacility 102 (FIG. 1) and transmits diagnostic information of the remotedownlink facility 106. The diagnostic information typically containsstatus reports of both hardware and software components of the remotedownlink facility 106.

Referring to FIGS. 4-8, the contents of the uplink database 122 (FIG. 2)at the central uplink facility 102 (FIG. 1) is illustrated withattributes for each modular database.

Referring specifically to FIG. 4, the uplink database 122 (FIG. 2) canbe physically divided into several modular databases containing: DVFS(“Digital Video File Server”) 200, presentation information 202, NCS(“Network Control System”) 204 and other business databases 206.

The DVFS 200 contains the core data necessary to operate the multimediadistribution and broadcast system 100 (FIG. 1) and is designed to workefficiently with its neighboring modular databases. For example, theDVFS 200 works closely with the presentation information 202 and NCS204. The data in the DVFS 200 may further be divided into severalcategories according to their functions. These categories includeprocess information 208, externally generated information 210 andinternally generated information 212. The descriptions of thesecategories are provided in greater detail in reference to FIG. 5.

The presentation information 202 is a pseudo database containing anapplication closely related with the database files for presentationdesign. The presentation information 202 controls the look and feel ofmultimedia presentations that will be broadcast. The presentationinformation 202 thus determines the display arrangement of multimediaelements to be shown on a television viewer's screen. This arrangementis called a display page and is formed by placing and sizing graphicalelements onto a screen space and setting individual properties such as abackground color, font, style and color of text. The display pages arethen grouped to form a sequence called a notebook. The notebooks aretransmitted to the remote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) and used inconjunction with available multimedia contents to form broadcastscheduling. Since the look and feel of the multimedia presentationshould be tailored to the preferences of the broadcast operators at thedownlink facilities, the presentation information 202 contains thespecific information in its file system to reflect such preference inthe display pages and notebooks.

The NCS 204 is a relational database which holds information needed toproduce and traffic videos used by the multimedia distribution andbroadcast system 100 (FIG. 1). The data in the NCS 204 can be furtherdivided into two following categories according to their functions:analog media process 216 and encoder video selection 218. The datacontained in the analog media process 216 is used to track the processesof copying, dubbing, adding, clipping, titling and editing of the analogvideo clips as the analog video. For example, there would becorresponding records if the central uplink facility 102 (FIG. 1)receives a 1-inch or ¾ inch tape or if it edits the frames to conform tothe standard video format used by the remote downlink facility 106 (FIG.1). The encoder video selection 218, on the other hand, includes datafor tracking the encoding or digitizing of the video clips between ananalog source to a digital source.

Other business databases 206 include files concerning operationalaspects of the multimedia distribution and broadcast system 100 (FIG.1). Such operational aspects include accounting 220, customer service222 and shipping 224. An example of operationally related databases is ahelpdesk/customer service database.

Referring to FIG. 5, the DVFS 200 consists of the process information208, externally generated information 210 and internally generatedinformation 212, each of which can be further divided into smallercategories by their functions as described herein below.

The process information 208 is in large part data used internally forefficient tracking and operation of the DVFS support processes. Forexample, from the process information 208, an operator can find out whenparticular multimedia contents were sent out, who sent out themultimedia contents or which multimedia contents were previously sent.The process information 208 is also used to automate the maintenance ofthe multimedia distribution and broadcast system 100 (FIG. 1). Generallythe process information 208 is never sent outside the central uplinkfacility and not seen by the operators at the remote downlink systems.The process information 208 can be further divided into informationcontaining the following functions: program schedule processes 226,media process 228, custom information processes 230 and transmissionprocess 232, which are described in greater detail in reference to FIG.6.

The externally generated information 210 is the core data for themultimedia distribution and broadcast system 100 (FIG. 1), whichoriginates outside of the central uplink facility. The externallygenerated information 210, for example, includes various multimediacontents and control information (video, audio, titles and schedules)provided by the television network sources such as HBO. The externallygenerated information 210 may also contain data specific to theprogramming or pay-per-view events that air on local cable televisionservice of the downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1). The externally generatedinformation 210 can be categorized into two groups: customer specificinformation 234 and global information 236, which are described ingreater detail in reference to FIG. 7.

The internally generated information 212 largely originates fromexperiences at the central uplink facility. These experiences aretransformed into useful information in the uplink database 122 (FIG. 1)that controls the sequences at multimedia and display arrangements. Theinternally generated information 212 can be subjective in nature bymaking determination, for example, what mix of genres of multimedia willattract the most number of broadcast operators on the multimediadistribution and broadcast system 100 (FIG. 1). In order to attract thebroadcast operators, the internally generated information 212 includesdescription of common characteristics of subscribers that are beingtargeted by the broadcast operators. This common characteristic may bedescribed as, for example, impulse oriented, family oriented, and sportsoriented.

The internally generated information 212 may further include descriptionof how such common characteristics or orientations change over thecourse of the day, week or season. Generally, such data are manuallytranslated into data sets which multimedia distribution and broadcastsystem 100 (FIG. 1) can decode. Another example may be a translatedinput of broadcast operators' preferences or philosophy for theirparticular broadcast programming. Also, broadcast operators' attempts todefine the look and feel for their particular broadcast programming maybe decoded and stored. The internally generated information 212 can befurther divided by its function into promotion sequence rules 238 andpromotion look of service rules 240 as described in greater detail inreference to FIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 6, the process information 208 includes data about thefollowing processes: program schedule process 226, media process 228,customer information process 230 and transmission process 232.

The program schedule process 226 generally contains the schedule of thenetwork sources such as HBO, SHOW TIME, CINEMAX and DISNEY CHANNEL. Theprogram schedule process data 226 can be categorized by its relation tothe following processes: data loading information 242, title maintenanceinformation 244 and source maintenance information 246.

The data loading 242 contains process data for taking files generatedfrom network sources or other data suppliers such as TV DATA located inGlenn Falls, N.Y., and converting these files into the uplink database122 (FIG. 2) of the central uplink facility 102 (FIG. 1). Examplesinclude identifications of workers who worked on certain dataprocessing, status of data loading jobs and description of data loadingjobs.

The title maintenance 246 contains process data for entering andupdating the titles of the multimedia contents to be used in themultimedia distribution and broadcast system 100 (FIG. 1). The titlesmay be matched against the internal references of corresponding numbersor standard titles so as to avoid confusion where different vendors ornetwork sources use different titles for the same media contents.

The source maintenance 248 contains process data for entering and mainlyupdating the information about the network sources. Examples are names,address and phone number of the contact persons at the network sources.Another example may be channel numbers for the network sources. All ofthe program schedule information can be put into work tables forin-house SQL (“Standard Query Language”) applications which areprogrammed to extract and manipulate particular data.

The media process 228 contains process data that allow the NCS 204 totraffic and tie certain media contents in order to generate sequences ofmultimedia. The media process 228 may, be divided into the followingcategories: selection and analog processing 250, inventory maintenance252 and scripting inherent constraints 251.

The selection and analog processing 250 include process data forselecting the multimedia contents to generate multimedia sequences. Forexample, in order to provide a multimedia distribution and broadcastservice for a certain period of time for a particular broadcastoperator, the uplink computer system 110 first looks at the schedule ofthe network sources to see what titles are, available during thatperiod. Then the information about these titles is examined to see whatweights or priority should be given for the available titles. Forexample, the success of a movie at the box office may be looked at todetermine whether a particular movie gets chosen and how much it getspromoted. Thereafter, the clips of the chosen movies are edited andformatted for later broadcasting. The data for selection and analogprocess 250 may be contained in a table format.

The inventory maintenance 252 contains process data for receiving theclips from network sources or studios, giving a clip detail and aspecific number, and storing at a certain place in the uplink database122 (FIG. 2) for later retrieval. An example of a long term storage formultimedia contents is a CD jukebox called “DRM-5004X” manufactured byPIONEER located in Tokyo, Japan. The CD jukebox may be monitored by ajukebox directory that points to where a particular multimedia contentsare located within the CD jukebox.

Scripting inherent constraints 254 contains process data so that thecharacteristic of each multimedia element in the multimedia contents isexamined in order formulate certain properties for later identificationand categorization. Examples of these characteristics are titles andduration of clips, network source constraints (e.g., mandating only HBO)or time constraints (e.g., starting at 7 P.M.). These characteristicsare stored in the uplink database 122 (FIG. 2) along with the multimediacontents.

The customer information process 230 contains process data related tothe remote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1). The customer informationprocess 230 is categorized into the following: administrativemaintenance 256, configuration maintenance 258, channel lineupmaintenance 260 and promotion property 262.

The administrative maintenance 256 includes reference informationincluding names, addresses and telephone numbers and social securitynumbers which are primarily designed for operational verification.

The configuration maintenance 258 contains administration informationsuch as the names of files, applications, hardware or services. Theconfiguration maintenance information 258 also may be used foroperational verification.

The channel lineup maintenance 260 contains data for insuring theefficient updates of the channel lineup of the downlink facilities. Theupdate operation is enhanced by grouping a number of downlink facilitiesand updating the group at once instead of updating each of the downlinkfacilities individually.

The promotion properties 262 contains data for allowing use of areference table so that when any particular downlink facility 106(FIG. 1) runs particular multimedia contents, the necessary informationis efficiently provided by reference to such table. For example, theremote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) that charge $19.99 for all oftheir wrestling events may be put into one category of local stations inthe reference cable. This price information is thereafter providedefficiently to the group of these local stations whenever such wrestlingevents appear in their schedule. Thus, if the remote downlink facility106 (FIG. 1) includes a wrestling event in its schedule, the price forthe promotion of the wrestling event is automatically set at $19.99.

The transmission process 232 contains the information about transmissioncontrol 270. The reports of transmission status, start time, durationand error detection are all put into the uplink database 122 (FIG. 1).The data of transmission control 270 may be used to keep track of andautomate some steps in the satellite transmission.

Referring to FIG. 7, the externally generated information 210 is dividedinto the following categories: customer specific information 234 andglobal information 236.

The customer specific information 234 is data specific to each of thebroadcast operators located at the remote downlink facilities. Forexample, this customer specific information 234 may include descriptionsof programming to be aired on a specific cable television system. Thecustomer specific information 234 can be categorized into thefollowings: configuration 272, channel lineup 274, custom source 276,viewer information pages 278 and local media 280.

The configuration information 272 includes various default informationabout the broadcast operator at the remote downlink facility 106 (FIG.1). One example is a time zone in which the remote downlink facility 106(FIG. 1) is located. Another example is a default order text including apay-per-view movie order instruction, price and telephone number. Yetanother example is the local channel number assignments for the networksources (e.g., channel number 29 for SHOWTIME). Yet another example is adefault background displaying broadcast operator's logo, video, audio,banners and toplines.

The channel lineup data 274 is the information on the properties thatare related to a particular downlink facility's programming. The channellineup data 274, for example, may contain the schedule of events thatthe remote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) wishes to promote. The channellineup data 274 may also include custom-programming specifications orcustom schedules having rescheduled events or modified titles. Thechannel lineup data 274 may also include sequence of channels andchannel numbers provided by the remote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1).

The custom source information 276 is the data specific to a particularcustomer/cable system. The custom source information 276 typically comesfrom a customer/cable system who puts together its own sources.Generally, this type of customer is a pay-per-view movie provider orsyndicate of major networks (e.g., NBC) interested in their own localprogramming. The customer source information 276 contains dynamicconfigurations that are related to functions of programming schedules.More specifically, these configurations describe the specific needs ofthe downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) to best promote its events andprograms at its particular locality and market. For instance,configurations may define preferable categories of events, timing ofpromotions, frequency of promotions, price changes and orderinginstructions. The customer source information 276 thus defines how theremote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) wish to promote its programming.

The viewer information pages 278 generally includes helpful hints forviewers. The viewer information pages 278, for example, may be a textexplaining a blocking option for children.

The local media 280 includes the multimedia contents of video, audio,text and other multimedia elements unique to a particular remotedownlink facility 106 (FIG. 1).

The global information 236 is the data general to all of the remotedownlink facilities in the multimedia distribution and broadcast system100 (FIG. 1). The global information 236 may be either a highlyintegrated database that is a part of the DVFS 200 or an independentdatabase neighboring the DVFS 200, the presentation information 202 andthe NCS 204. The global information 236 holds data that is common toother databases needed to run the multimedia distribution and broadcastsystem 100 (FIG. 1). The global information 236 has the following dataitems: standard titles 282, source schedules 284, global media 286 andweather data 288.

The standard title 282 contains unique titles for the multimediacontents that most network sources and downlink facilities use in theirlistings. The standard title 282 also contains unique properties thatare designed to categorize multimedia contents. The standard title 282may include titles, ratings and synopsis of movies.

The source schedule 284 contains a global schedule of programminginformation on network sources such as HBO, TNN and SHOWTIME. Forexample, the title of a program on HBO at 2 P.M. on September 30 may beincluded in the source schedules 284.

The global media 286 includes multimedia contents such as video, audioand text that can be used at any of the remote downlink facilities. Theglobal media database 284 also contains criteria of the multimediacontents necessary to categorize the media contents. For example,examples of such criteria are the box office sales of movies and theevents that the multimedia contents promote.

The weather data 288 containing weather reports or forecasts across theUnited States may be provided to all of the remote downlink facilitiesin a similar manner as the global media.

Referring to FIG. 8, the internally generated information 212 iscategorized into two categories: promotion sequence rule 238 andpromotion look of service rule 240.

The promotion sequence rule 238 provides a set of rules that thedownlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) go by in constructing a sequence ofmultimedia. The promotion sequence rule 238 can be categorized into thefollowings: format definition 290, type definition 292, segmentdefinition 294 and environmental definition 296.

The format definition 290 is the data selected by a Serviceconfiguration parameter to determine, for example, the commoncharacteristics of the television viewers that are being targeted by thebroadcast operators. The type of the televisions viewers may be, forexample, impulse buyers, sports oriented or family oriented. The data isalso used to determine which groups of viewers get particularmultimedia.

The type definition 292 is a selection rule for selecting the multimediacontents and display arrangements that will promote a specific event. Anexample of such type definition 292 is a database query: “select adisplay arrangement and fill the data fields in the display arrangementfrom events that will occur within next 4 hours.” Another example is arate control query: “play X number of sports promotions per hour duringa prime time.”

The segment definition 204 is a list of database queries that formsequences of multimedia to be played. The segment list defines promotionmix, for example, of impulse specific and planned specific promotions.Another example is the mix of sports and movie promotions. The segmentlist also defines constraints and circumstances which are typicallytimed to a local parameter.

The environmental definition 296 provides definitions of conditions withcombinations of parameter and local variables. The definitions ofconditions are used by the set of rules to construct the multimediasequences to translate the needs of the downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1).An example of such environmental condition is: “Is the time 10 minutesafter the hour and is my local configuration video-insertion parameterequal to ‘yes’?” In order to develop definitions of conditions, theuplink computer system 110 (FIG. 1) first determines which sets of data10, are necessary in formulating a schedule. The necessary sets of datatypically include at least the starting time, duration and channelinformation. Thereafter, the uplink computer system 110 (FIG. 1)determines the definitions of conditions using the set of data. Forexample, definitions of conditions for a popular movie or blockbustermovie may be defined as those movies that raised revenues exceedingtwenty million dollars at the box office.

The promotion look of service rule 240 determines the look and feel ofthe final screens viewed by television viewers. The promotion look ofservice rules 240 can be categorized into the followings: default look298, media constraint 300 and event constraint 302.

The default look 29B is a combination of geometric layouts of thevarious graphics that make up the display as well as the video, audioand text that give color and multimedia contents to displayarrangements. The multimedia distribution and broadcast system 100(FIG. 1) actually has a set of choices for the default look 298 by usingpredefined display arrangements in the notebooks provided by thepresentation information 202 (FIG. 4). More specifically, the defaultlook 298 points to a particular notebook providing display pages whereeach display page runs its own video, audio, text and other multimediaelements for a particular period of time. For example, the default lookfor the downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) may be a display page with fourwindows, each of which is showing a different movie clip.

The media constraint 230 contains generally a set of properties ofmultimedia contents that are attached in a process called scripting. Themultimedia contents are generally composed of particular titles sources,durations and categories. After examining these various characteristics,the uplink control unit 120 (FIG. 2) attaches common constraints to theappropriate group of multimedia contents. For example, titles of eventsthat the video clip may be used to promote can be attached to the videoclip. Other examples of common constraints are an air time range and asource type.

The event constraint 232 contains a set of properties of events thatdetermines whether a particular event is selected to be subject of aparticular sequence of promotions. The selection is often a function ofconstraints which are implicit in the event such as a title, air time,rating, source and viewer.

Referring to FIGS. 9-11, the contents of the downlink database 130 (FIG.3) located at the remote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) is illustratedwith attributes for each modular database. The structure of the downlinkdatabase 130 (FIG. 3) is very similar to the structure of the uplinkdatabase 122 (FIG. 2) since most of the data contained thereinoriginates from the uplink database 122 (FIG. 1). The description ofmany of the modular databases in the downlink database 130 (FIG. 3),therefore, can be somewhat abbreviated because more extensive discussionhas already been provided for the corresponding modular databases inFIGS. 4-8. The data size of the downlink database 130 (FIG. 3) may be,however, significantly smaller than the data size of the uplink database122 (FIG. 2) because the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 2) generallyscreens the received data from the central uplink facility 102 (FIG. 1)and stores only the data necessary and specific to the remote downlinkfacility 106 (FIG. 1) in the downlink database 130 (FIG. 3). Forexample, the configuration data, channel lineup data, customer sourcedata and local media for other downlink facilities are screened out bythe downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3).

Referring specifically to FIG. 9, the downlink database 130 (FIG. 3)consists of the following modular databases: externally generatedinformation 400, internally generated information 402 and presentationinformation 404. The externally generated information 402 may further becategorized into customer specific information 406 and globalinformation 408. The internally generated information 402 may also becategorized into promotion sequence rule 410 and promotion look ofservice rule 412. The detailed descriptions of each of these databasesare abbreviated because more extensive discussion has been alreadyprovided for the corresponding databases in FIGS. 7 and 8.

Referring to FIG. 10, the externally generated information 406 (FIG. 9)includes customer specific information 414 and global information. Thecustomer specific information 406 can be categorized into thefollowing's: the configuration data 418, channel lineup data 420customer source data 422, viewer information page 424 and local media426.

As discussed above, the customer specific information 406 contains onlythe data specific to a particular remote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1)as the data transmitted from the central uplink facility 102 (FIG. 1) isscreened and edited by the downlink computer unit 130 (FIG. 3). Somedata included in the customer specific information 414 may be enteredlocally at the remote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) in order tofacilitate customization of multimedia sequences. For example, the localmedia 426 may contain video clips for advertising for local retailers ortelevision programs.

The global information database 416, on the other hand, is likely tocontain almost identical data as the global information database 236(FIG. 5) located at the central uplink facility 102 (FIG. 1). The globalinformation 416 is further categorized into standard title 428, sourceschedule 430, global media 432 and weather data 434. The detaileddescriptions are abbreviated because more extensive discussion has beenalready provided for the corresponding databases in FIG. 7.

Referring to FIG. 11, the promotion sequence rule 436 includes formatdefinition 440, type definition 442, segment definition andenvironmental definition 446. The promotion look of service rule 438contains default look 448, media constraint 450 and event constraint452. These rules are used by the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) togenerate multimedia sequences in desired display arrangements. Thedetailed discussion of these rules is abbreviated because more extensivediscussion has been already provided for the corresponding rules in FIG.8.

FIGS. 12-17 depict various promotion screens generated at the remotedownlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) as they would appear on viewers'television or monitor displays. More specifically, these screens aregenerated by the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) which controls thedisplay arrangements primarily based on the data contained in thepresentation information 404 (FIG. 9) and the promotion look of servicerule 412 (FIG. 9). As discussed above, the notebooks consist of multipledisplay pages, each of which defines a specific graphical arrangement ofmultimedia objects such as video, audio and text. For example, themultiple display pages in a notebook may provide options of a ⅔ screenand full screen for a video clip. There may be also another display pageconfigured to show multiple video clips simultaneously.

Furthermore, the multimedia contents can be Used very effectively withthe display pages providing different background information. This is animportant benefit because the amount of multimedia contents that aredelivered to the remote downlink facilities is limited due to thebandwidth and cost constraints of a satellite transmission. Variousbackgrounds in different display pages can enhance the quality ofmultimedia sequences by providing variety of information related tosports, music, shows and movies while running the limited number ofvideo clips. In addition to display pages, the notebooks also containtiming information about the display pages, such as when a display pagebegins and how long the display page is to be displayed. The timinginformation also defines transitions and other effects that occurbetween display pages. All of the multimedia objects in a single displaypage have the same begin time and duration and some display pages mayoverlap other display pages.

The notebooks may also contain an object called TextStyle which definesa font, color, size and any other text attributes. The TextStyle may beset by an operator of the downlink computer unit 128 (FIG. 3) so thatthe text objects have the assigned text attributes at the display pagelevel, the notebook level or at the global level.

Referring specifically to FIG. 12, a screen may present a display page500 that is configured to run multiple video clips simultaneously on asingle screen by utilizing multiple windows. Although the display page500 has a different arrangement from a typical display page that runs asingle video clip, it does not necessarily require a different set ofvideo clips. In fact, the display page 500 utilizes the same set ofvideo clips that are used by many other display pages in the notebooksand maximizes the utilization of the available resources at the remotedownlink facilities.

The selection of the event, display page and multimedia contents isgenerally decided by evaluating both the media constraint 450 (FIG. 11)and event constraint 452 (FIG. 11). The selection of events in thedisplay page 500 is, for instance, determined by evaluating a “up-next”line up. The up-next line-up refers to the promotion sequence for theevents that start within a certain time period. Here, three pay-per-viewevents are selected for promotion because these events are scheduled tostart during next one hour. As shown, all of the selected movies happento have the same starting times (e.g., 8 o'clock) that fall within onehour from the current time,

Subsequently, the multiple window display page 500 is invoked in orderto allow viewers to view all three pay-per-view events simultaneously.Alternatively, different display pages may be selected to run thesevideo clips individually in sequence. Thereafter, the audio clips,backgrounds and text corresponding to selected events are retrieved bythe display page 400 to generate multimedia sequences.

In the display page 500, the viewers are able to view promotion clips ofthree movies, “Crimson Tide,” “The Santa Clause” and “Batman Forever” onone screen without having to flip through the channels or wait for thenext sequence of video clips. The remaining quadrant is used to providethe information that all three pay-per-view movies have been set tostart at 8:00 P.M.

Referring to FIG. 13, another display page employing a differentcombination of multimedia is used to promote the same events as in FIG.12. More specifically, the display page 510 in FIG. 13 provides threetext windows, each describing the movies, “Crimson Tide,” “The SantaClause” and “Batman Forever.” The text information may include a rating,order telephone number and price related to each pay-per-view movie asshown in FIG. 13. The text information may further provide otherinformation such as duration, critique or synopsis of each movie.

FIGS. 14-17 illustrate the use of the same video clip with differentbackground information. The capability to use the same video clip invarious display arrangements defined by different notebooks addscommercial value. Since the data size of notebooks is significantlysmaller than the data size of multimedia contents, the use of thenotebooks enhances the quality of the multimedia at low cost withouthaving to expand the database capacity or transmission capacity.

Referring specifically to FIG. 14, the background elements include achannel reference number, price, start time of a movie, countdown clock,phone number and order text. In order to display these elements withoutcompromising the display of a movie clip, a display page 520 with the ¾size window is used. This ¾ size window for the video clip allowsseparation between the background information and the video clip. Suchseparation is important especially when the display page 520 presentsinformation unrelated to the video clip that is running on the screen.

The display page 520, for example, is running a video clip of a movie“French Kiss” while providing information about a movie “Waterworld” aswell as information about a movie “Copycat.” The side bar in the displaypage 520 includes the countdown clock, channel number, price, releaseyear, theme and title, “Waterworld.” The bottom bar includes the starttime, title, phone number, channel and price of yet another pay-per-viewmovie “Copycat.” The clear separation among the window, side bar andbottom bar prevents confusion. The Selection of the display page,therefore, may be determined based on a spacial need to present aparticular information at the time.

The display page 520 also depicts other features to make the screen morepresentable. The ability to rotate a text display to fit the side bar,for example, provides variations in the display page 520. As shown, thetitle graphic of “Waterworld” at a perpendicular relationship with thebottom bar improves the appearance of the whole screen withoutcompromising the shape of the window that is running the video clip of“French Kiss.”

Referring to FIG. 15, the same video clip of “French Kiss” as in FIG. 14is utilized in a different display page 530. The full size window isused in FIG. 14 instead of ¾ size window in FIG. 15 to run the samevideo clip. Also, the side and bottom bars are removed from the displaypage 530. Instead, there is only a single overlay text at the bottom ofthe screen describing order instructions. The change from the displaypage 520 to the display page 530 during broadcasting provides variationthat would more likely attract the viewer's attention and increase thevalue of promotions. Also, more text information may be provided invarious display arrangements to better inform the viewer. It should benoted that a video clip may be resized in accordance with notebookinstructions to fit a variety of desired screen formats. For example,the clip of “French Kiss” shown in the display page 530 may be reducedto fit in one of the quadrants shown in the display page 500 of FIG. 12.

Referring to FIG. 16, a display page 540 similar to the display page 530of FIG. 15 is illustrated with the same video clip of “French Kiss.” Thedisplay page 540, however, includes more overlay text as well as arunning clock. Also provided is the order telephone number for “FrenchKiss” in the bottom overlay and the information about anotherpay-per-view movie called “Now and Then” in the top overlay.Specifically, the top overlay displays the title, rating, start time,date, channel and price of “Now and Then.” The overlays provide yetanother opportunity for broadcast operators to maximize promotionalvalues and bring in more revenues.

Referring to FIG. 17, a display page 450 similar to the display pages430 and 440 of FIGS. 15 and 16 is illustrated. The display page 450presents the information specific to the movie clip that is currentlyrunning. The display page 450 provides the names of the main actor andactress, “Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline,” at the bottom overlay whileproviding the title of the movie, “French Kiss,” in the top overlay.Again, with the use of the notebooks, this additional displayarrangement is provided by the multimedia distribution and broadcastsystem 100 (FIG. 1) without incurring high costs that would incurotherwise to transmit and store significantly more multimedia contentsto offer variety in the multimedia sequences.

FIGS. 18-19 depict a scheduling process and an exemplary implicitschedule generated at the remote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1): Theschedule is generated by the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) based onthe control information contained in the downlink database 130 (FIG. 3).It should be noted, however, that the schedule may be generatedalternatively at the central uplink facility 102 (FIG. 1) andtransmitted to the remote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1). The schedulemay yet be partially generated at the central uplink facility 102 (FIG.1), transmitted to the remote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) andcompleted as the final schedule by the downlink control unit 128 (FIG.3).

Referring specifically to FIG. 18, the creation process of an exemplaryschedule is illustrated by depicting the progressive results as theschedule elements are added together to produce a skeleton. The firstskeleton 600 represents a global absolute schedule that may have timedand dated information. The global absolute schedule may be a nationaladvertisement placed by the central uplink facility 102 (FIG. 1). Thesecond skeleton 602 represents a local absolute schedule which can bebuilt from customer specific information 234 (FIG. 7). The thirdskeleton 604 is an absolute rate schedule which is a highly repeatablescheduling function. For example, the advertisements configured tointerrupt the schedule at a certain frequency may be placed in theschedule as long as these advertisements do not conflict with theadvertisements previously placed by the global and local absoluteschedules. Finally, the fourth skeleton 606 is filler segments whichfill up the gaps in the schedule. The combination of these skeletons600, 602, 604 and 606 constructs an implicit schedule 608 which consistsof a set of conditions defined by the global and local needs, absoluterate constraint and filler segments.

FIG. 19 illustrates an example of the implicit schedule 608 in a tableformat. The implicit schedule 608 preferably includes the followingcolumns: promotion type 610, length of promotion 612 and starting time614. It should be noted that the implicit schedule may include theconditions other than the ones defined here. The downlink control unit128 (FIG. 3) uses the set of conditions and attributes as defined inthis implicit schedule in order to locate proper multimedia contents.For example, a local advertisement 616 needs the multimedia contentsthat runs for two and half minutes starting from 0:54:05. Similarly, thenational advertisement 618 needs the multimedia contents that runs forone minute from 0:56:35. When the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3)finds the multimedia contents that satisfy these conditions, theimplicit schedule 608 is filled with the title of video, audio,background, text and notebook. As a result, the implicit schedule 608 isconverted to an explicit schedule.

Referring to FIG. 20, scheduling functions to assign explicit video,audio, text, background or multimedia elements to broadcast on at aspecific time are illustrated. In other words, the scheduling rules areused to transform the implicit schedule 608 shown in FIG. 19 into anexplicit schedule with specific titles of video, audio, text, backgroundor other multimedia elements which can be retrieved from the downlinkdatabase 130 (FIG. 3) to generate multimedia sequences to be broadcastto viewers. After building the implicit schedule 608 (FIG. 19), thedownlink computer 130 (FIG. 3) selects one of the segment lists 620 thatsatisfies the type constraint 610 (FIG. 19) and time constraints 612 and614 (FIG. 19) in the implicit schedule 608 (FIG. 19). The selectedsegment list 622 stored in the segment definition database 444 (FIG. 11)may be another implicit schedule as shown. Each item in the segment list622, thereafter, is considered as functions of time, type list,multimedia address such as laser disc number, programming data, localpromotion data and local configuration as shown in the table 624. Theitems, therefore, are converted to a set of multimedia having aparticular video, audio and text clips that run for a specified amountof time as showing in the table 626. The downlink computer system 114(FIG. 1) forms multimedia sequences to be broadcast by forming thesequential sets of multimedia as it goes down the segment list 622.

Referring now to FIG. 21, a logic flow diagram is described whichrepresents the major processes performed by the central uplink facility102 (FIG. 1). It should be noted that the order of the steps in FIG. 21is not critical and that the flow diagrams do not necessarily reflectthe absolute sequence of actions taken at the central uplink facility102 (FIG. 1).

The main objective of the program loop 700 performed at the uplinkfacility 102 (FIG. 1) is to collect various multimedia contents andcontrol information for a satellite transmission to the downlinkfacility 106 (FIG. 1) so that the downlink computer system 114 (FIG. 1)can evaluate the transmitted multimedia contents and control informationto construct multimedia sequences. The program loop 700 utilizes mainlythe externally developed information 210 (FIG. 5) and internallydeveloped information 212 (FIG. 5) which are the uplink facility's coredata defining the multimedia distribution and broadcast system 100 (FIG.1). Especially, the internally developed information 212 (FIG. 5) isused by the central uplink facility 102 (FIG. 1) to maintain substantialcontrol over the contents and display arrangements of the multimediasequences generated at the remote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1). Otherinformation contained in the uplink database 122 (FIG. 2) provides thesupport and plumbing for the program loop 700 to run smoothly andefficiently. The program loop 700 is preferably implemented as acollection of subroutine processes which perform the stated functions.

The uplink program loop 700 begins with any of steps 702, 704 and 706.At step 702, the uplink computer system 110 (FIG. 2) performs a gatherCustomer Specific Info routine in order to collect the data specific tothe downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1). The collected data is necessary toprovide the remote downlink facility 106 with the multimedia contentsand control information tailored to its local market (FIG. 1). Most ofthe data is received directly from the remote downlink facility 106(FIG. 1) and stored in the central uplink database 122 (FIG. 2). Morespecifically, the uplink control unit 120 (FIG. 2) collects theconfiguration data 272 (FIG. 7), channel lineup data 274 (FIG. 7)customer source data 276 (FIG. 7), viewer information pages 278 (FIG. 7)and local media 280 (FIG. 7) from the remote downlink facility 106(FIG. 1) by a transmission via the uplink modem 126 (FIG. 2) and amanual input through a keyboard, and stores the collected data in thecustomer specific information database 234 (FIG. 5).

At step 704, a gather globally generated information routine is invokedto collect the multimedia contents and control information global withinthe multimedia distribution and broadcast system 100 (FIG. 1). Mostoften, different downlink facilities follow the same pattern, use thesame sources and promote with the same material in their cable services.There is no point in processing thousands of video dips and expensiveprocesses when the difference between them is small. Thus, the uplinkcomputer system 110 (FIG. 1) groups as much information as possible intothe global information 236 (FIG. 7) for efficiency. The uplink controlunit 122 (FIG. 2) receives the global information from various sourcessuch as network sources, remote downlink facility, video vendors andmovie studios and stores the information in the central uplink database122 (FIG. 2). More specifically, the uplink control unit 122 (FIG. 2),collects the standard title 282 (FIG. 7), source schedule (FIG. 7),global media 286 (FIG. 7) and weather data 288 (FIG. 7) stores thecollected data in the global information database 236 (FIG. 5). TheGather Global Information routine completes gaps in the customerspecific information by blending the global information 236 (FIG. 7)with the customer specific information 234 (FIG. 7). The gather globalinformation routine creates a complete set of the externally generatedinformation 210 which can be tied to the particular remote downlinkfacility 106 (FIG. 1).

At step 706, a gather internally generated information routine isinvoked to collect the control information that can be derived from thecentral uplink facility's experiences in providing the multimediadistribution and broadcast service. This control information is a′set ofrules that the central uplink facility 102 (FIG. 1) researches anddevelops so that the remote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) can go bythis set of rules in constructing a sequence of multimedia. Morespecifically, the uplink control unit 120 (FIG. 2) collects formatdefinitions 290 (FIG. 8), type definition 292 (FIG. 8), segmentdefinition 294 (FIG. 8), environment definition 276 (FIG. 8), defaultlook 298 (FIG. 8), media constraint 300 (FIG. 8) and event constraint302 (FIG. 8) and stores the collected data in the internally generatedinformation database 212 (FIG. 5).

At step 708, the collected multimedia contents and control informationare transmitted to the remote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) where thetransmitted data is used to generate multimedia sequences to bebroadcast to viewers. Among the contents of the uplink database 122(FIG. 2), most of the data the DVFS data base 200 (FIG. 4) istransmitted except the process information 208 (FIG. 4). Also,transmitted is the data in the presentation information 202. The rest ofthe contents in the uplink database 122 (FIG. 2) are not transmittedsince the rest exclusively concerns the operations at the uplinkfacility 102 (FIG. 1).

Referring now to FIGS. 22-31, a series of logic flow diagrams isdescribed which represent at a functional level, a control programexecuted by the downlink computer system 114 (FIG. 1) for implementingthe promotion management of the present invention. Similar to FIG. 21,the order of the steps in FIGS. 22-31 is not critical and an order otherthan the one shown that can reasonably accomplish the same tasks can befollowed.

A downlink program loop 800 is described in connection with FIG. 22. Theobjective of the main program loop 800 is to produce a sequence ofmultimedia scheduled at such times as to maximize exposure of promotedevents and to provide entertaining screens overlaid with usefulinformation based on the multimedia contents and control informationtransmitted from the uplink facility 102 (FIG. 1) to the downlinkfacility 106 (FIG. 1).

The program begins with step 802 by receiving the data transmitted fromthe central uplink facility 102 (FIG. 1). The satellite receiver 112(FIG. 1) of the downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) receives the analog ordigital signals from the central uplink facility 102 (FIG. 1) via thesatellite 104 (FIG. 1) and passes the signals to the downlink computersystem 114 (FIG. 1). In the systems prior art, the satellitetransmission was used specifically for time sensitive information suchas schedules. The rest of the data such as multimedia contents wasstored in data transfer medium such as a laser disc and mailed via acarrier from the central uplink facility 102 (FIG. 1) to the remotedownlink facility 106 (FIG. 1). The multimedia distribution andbroadcast system 100 (FIG. 1) of the present invention, however, is ableto transmit all necessary data to the downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) viathe satellite 104 (FIG. 1) by significantly decreasing the amount of themultimedia contents with the use of notebooks that allow efficient useof the limited multimedia contents. The notebooks themselves havesmaller data size in comparison to the multimedia contents. Thus, thecentral uplink facility 102 (FIG. 1) transmit most of all of the data tothe satellite 104 and avoid the more complex two-tier delivery systemusing the mail delivery.

The transmitted signals may be selectively received at the downlinkfacility 106 (FIG. 1) based upon the identification of the downlinkfacility 106 (FIG. 1). This identification of the downlink facility 106(FIG. 1) is included in the transmission signals. Since the bulk of thetransmitted signals is unnecessary information for the other downlinkfacilities, this selection process drastically conserves mass storageand transmission resources. The selected or filtered information isdemodulated at a demodulator 126 (FIG. 3) and stored in the downlinkdatabase 130 (FIG. 3) by the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3).

After step 802, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) proceeds toconstruct a schedule for multimedia sequences based on the controlinformation now stored in the downlink database 130 (FIG. 3). Thedownlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) first determines if there is a globalabsolute schedule 600 (FIG. 18) to be incorporated into the schedule attest 804. For example, if the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) detectsany national advertisement that is required to be put on every downlinkfacility's schedule, the conditions for such national advertisementssuch as the genre and date information are incorporated into theschedule at step 806. The downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) thenproceeds to test 808 to determine if there is a local absolute schedule602 (FIG. 18). For example, if any local advertisement requested fromthe remote downlink facility 106 (FIG. 1) is detected, the time and dateconditions for such local advertisements are incorporated into theavailable slots in the schedule at step 810. The downlink control unit128 (FIG. 3) also determines if there is an absolute rate schedule 604(FIG. 18) to be incorporated into the schedule at test 812. If a specialevent that needs to be promoted at a certain rate is detected, thedownlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) incorporates the conditions for suchpromotions into the schedule at step 814. For example, the absolute rateschedule 604 (FIG. 18) may specify the rate of specific types ofpromotions, such as sporting events, to be shown on a particular channela certain number of times during a particular period of time. Theincorporation of the global absolute schedule 600 (FIG. 18), localabsolute schedule 602 (FIG. 18) and absolute rate schedule 604 (FIG. 18)at steps 806, 808 and 810 create a schedule with some gaps. The downlinkcontrol unit 128 (FIG. 3) then fills these gaps in the schedule withfiller segments 606 (FIG. 18) at step 616. The downlink control unit 128(FIG. 3) uses a mixture of configuration controls and segment lists tofill in these gaps to generate the implicit schedule 608 (FIG. 19).

At step 818, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) performs a series oftests and steps to implement a query routine in order to transform theimplicit schedule 608 (FIG. 19) from step 816 into an explicit schedule.The query routine 818 thus selects the multimedia contents and notebooksto be used. The downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) subsequentlygenerates multimedia sequences based on the explicit schedule andselected multimedia contents and notebooks at step 820. The downlinkcontrol unit 128 (FIG. 3) synchronizes the multimedia sequences forbroadcasting and the channel modulator 112 (FIG. 3) broadcasts thesynchronized multimedia sequences at step 822.

Referring to FIG. 23, the query routine 818 performed by the downlinkcomputer 110 is illustrated in more detail (FIG. 1). When the queryroutine 818 is invoked, a series of steps and tests are performed totransform an implicit schedule into an explicit schedule.

The downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) determines at test 824 whether aqueue entry is needed to convert an implicit schedule 608 (FIG. 19) toan explicit schedule with specified multimedia contents and notebooks.If the schedule is explicit already, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG.3) terminates the query routine 818 and places the entry including thespecified multimedia contents and notebooks at step 834. Otherwise, aget query routine 826 is invoked where the type definition 442 (FIG. 11)and environmental definition 446 (FIG. 11) are accessed to retrievenecessary queries. These queries are generally predefined by the centraluplink facility 102 (FIG. 1) and configured to find appropriatemultimedia contents and notebooks. Examples of these queries are a setof conditions requesting a 30-second video clip about a wrestling matchto be played at channel 60 of the cable service. These queries aredeveloped with consideration of the general needs of the remote downlinkfacility 106 (FIG. 1). After the get query routine 826, the downlinkcontrol unit 128 (FIG. 3) determines if the returned query can be usedat test 828. If not, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) sets thelast results in the previous query request at step 830 and loops back totest 824.

If it is determined that the returned query can be used at test 828, aprocess query routine 832 is invoked to find an appropriate entry ofmultimedia contents and notebooks. When the process query routine 832returns the entry at step 834, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3)places the returned entry to generate the explicit schedule at step 834.

FIG. 24 represents the get query routine 826. In the get query routine826, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) selects a segment list 620(FIG. 20) at step 836 based on the conditions as defined by the implicitschedule 610 (FIG. 19), local data and configuration of the downlinkfacility 106 (FIG. 1).

The segment list 622 (FIG. 20) may contain multiple segments or a singlesegment which is function of time, a type list, local promotion data,local configuration, EPG data, a script object list or a video disk. Thesegment list 622 (FIG. 20), for example, maybe a sports segment thatincludes an opening, closing and a certain number of sports video clips.The downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) determines at step 838 thesegment type from the selected segment list 622 (FIG. 20). Based on theselected type, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) formulates andreturns a query at step 840.

FIGS. 25-31 represent an exemplary embodiment for the process queryroutine 832 which is performed by the downlink control unit 128 (FIG.3). An alternative and more general embodiment for the process queryroutine 832 is described herein below in reference to FIG. 32.

Referring to FIG. 25, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) proceeds todetermine whether the keyword contained in the query is a “promotion” attest 842. If it is determined that the keyword is promotion, then thedownlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) proceeds to find an appropriatepromotion that satisfies the conditions of the query as described ingreater detail in relation to FIGS. 26-30. If not, the downlink controlunit 128 (FIG. 3) proceeds to determine whether the key word containedin the query is a “billboard” at test 844. If it is determined that thekeyword is billboard, then the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3)proceeds to find an appropriate background that satisfies the conditionsof the query, as described in greater detail in relation to FIG. 31.Thereafter, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) loops back to step832 for another request for the process query routine 832.

Referring to FIGS. 26-30, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3)determines at test 846 whether a time and date range for multimediasequences is specified. If not, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3)proceeds to test 468 for specified title identifications of events.Otherwise, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) accesses the promotionsequence rule 436 (FIG. 11) in the downlink database 130 at step 848 toretrieve a list of title identifications and their sources which fallwithin the specified date and time range.

At step 850, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) determines if thereare any source filters to be applied to the list resulting from step848. The filters are generally used to screen out any of multimediacontents or events from the list using the characteristics or attributesof each multimedia clip or event. If there exists any source filter, thedownlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) reduces the list of titleidentifications using the source filters at step 852. The source filter,for example, may screen out the title identifications of the eventsrelated to HBO and SHOWTIME.

If no source filter is found at test 850 or after reduction of the listat step 852, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) accesses the channellineup database at step 854 and proceeds to test 856. At test 856, thedownlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) determines it any genre filters existin the downlink database 130 (FIG. 3). Examples of genre are sports,movies, shows and special events. If genre filters exist, the downlinkcontrol unit 128 (FIG. 3) applies the genre filters to reduce the listof title identifications based on the categories of the promotions atstep 856.

If no genre filter is found at test 856 or after the reduction of thelist at step 858, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) determines attest 860 if any actor filter exists in the downlink database 130 (FIG.3). The actor filter, for example, is used to select only the movieswith John Wayne in them. The actor filter may be further used to selectthe movies with John Wayne starring or supporting in them. If there isany actor filter, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) applies theactor filter to reduce the list of title identifications by eliminatingthe promotions that do not feature particular actors at step 862.

The downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) determines at test 866 if anyrating filter exists in the downlink database 130 (FIG. 3). The ratingfilter may be used to select only the movies with PG-13 rating forchildren. If so, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) applies therating filter to the list of title identifications and eliminates themultimedia contents that do not have specified ratings at step 868.

If no rating filter is found at test 866 or after the reduction of thelist at step 868, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) reduces thelist of title identifications by a title weighting criterion or otherfiltering available at step 870. The filtering and title weighting steps848, 852, 858, 862, 868 and 870 thus produce a set of titleidentifications at step 872. For example, if the downlink control unit128 (FIG. 3) applies the criteria for the up-next lineup of the screen500 as shown in FIG. 12, the title identifications would include“Crimson Tide,” “The Santa Clause” and “Batman Forever.”

If it is determined that the set of title identifications is notspecified at test 864, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) proceedsto test 890 to see whether a set of video specifications exists. If aset of title identifications is specified at test 864 or after theselection of title identifications at step 872, the downlink controlunit 128 (FIG. 3) retrieves the list of videos from local media 426(FIG. 10) and global media (FIG. 10) in the downlink database 130 (FIG.3), that are linked to the specified set of title identifications atstep 874.

Referring to FIG. 28, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) at step 876determines if there are any video category filters to be applied to thelist of videos selected at step 874. Similar to genre filters, examplesof video categories are sports, movies, shows and special events. Thevideo category filters are used to utilize these characteristics ofvideo for selecting only desired videos. If so, the downlink controlunit 128 (FIG. 3) reduces the list of title identifications using thevideo category filters at step 878.

If no video category filter is found at test 880 or after reduction ofthe list at step 878, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) accessesthe downlink database 130 and determines if any video rating filtersexist in the downlink database 130 (FIG. 3) at test 882. If so, thedownlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) applies the video rating filters toreduce the list of video identifications based on the ratings ofpromotional videos at step 884.

If no video rating filter is found at test 880 or after the reduction ofthe list at step 882, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) proceeds totest 884 to determine if any time duration filters exist in the downlinkdatabase 130 (FIG. 3). The time duration filters, for example, is usedto select only the videos having 30 second duration. If the timeduration filters exist, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) appliesthe time duration filters to reduce the list of video identifications atstep 886. If no time duration filter is found at test 884 or after thereduction of the list at step 886, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG.3) further applies any filter and video weighting criteria available tothe list of video identifications to reduce the list of videoidentifications at step 888. The filtering and title weighing steps 876,880, 884 and 888 produce the identifications of the videos associatedwith each of the title identifications.

Referring to FIG. 29, if it is determined that video identifications arenot specified at test 890, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3)proceeds to step 894 and concludes that selection of promotional videoscannot be made based on given information. If video identifications arespecified at test 890 or after the reduction of the list of videos atstep 888, a set of videos linked to the specified title identificationsis established at step 892. For example, the set of videos for theup-next screen 500 in FIG. 12 would contain the video clip for each ofthe three movies, “Crimson Tide,” “The Santa Clause” and “BatmanForever.”

The downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) then proceeds to test 896 (FIG.21) and determines if a notebook is specified in the downlink database130 (FIG. 3). If a notebook is specified, then the entry including theset of title and video identifications, the single notebookidentification, specified audio from step 898, and specified backgroundfrom step 900 is returned at step 902. The returned entry issubsequently put in the explicit schedule at step 834 (FIG. 14). If itis determined that the notebook is not specified, the downlink controlunit 128 (FIG. 3) accesses the downlink database 130 (FIG. 3) toretrieve a list of notebooks associated with the particular videoidentifications determined at step 904. The downlink control unit 128(FIG. 3) determines if such lists contain any notebooks at test 906. Ifit is found that the list contains notebooks, i.e., the list is notempty, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) proceeds to step 908 toreduce the list to a single notebook by using a filter, a weightingcriterion or simply the order of the list. If it is round that the listdoes not contain any notebook, i.e., the list is empty, the downlinkcontrol unit 128 (FIG. 3) proceeds to test 910 to determine if there arenotebooks associated with the title identifications. If it is found suchnotebooks exist, the list of the notebooks is retrieved at step 912 andthe downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) proceeds to step 908. Otherwise,the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) proceeds to test 914 to determineif there are notebooks associated with the sources of the titleidentifications. If it is found such notebooks exist, the list of thenotebooks is retrieved at step 916 and the downlink control unit 128(FIG. 3) proceeds to step 908. Otherwise, the downlink control unit 128(FIG. 3) proceeds to test 918 to determine if there are notebooksassociated with the genre. If it is found such notebooks exist, the listof the notebooks is retrieved at step 920 and the downlink control unit128 (FIG. 3) proceeds to step 908. Otherwise, the downlink control unit128 (FIG. 3) proceeds to test 922. If there are any other associationsto notebooks, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) applies suchassociations to retrieve a list of notebooks at step 924 and thedownlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) proceeds to step 908. If not, thedownlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) applies a default notebook at step926.

At step 908, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) applies variousrules as described above to the list received from steps 906, 912, 916,920 and 924 and reduces the list to a single notebook. This singlenotebook with specified audio retrieval at step 898 and specifiedbackground at step 900 become the return entry at step 902.Alternatively, the audio and background may be obtained by evaluatingconstraints contained in the queries just as how the titles, videos andnotebooks have been obtained.

FIG. 31 represents the processes to construct a billboard that has noassociation with any event. When a keyword is a “billboard” at test 844(FIG. 25), the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) proceeds to retrievefrom the presentation information 404 in the downlink database 130 (FIG.3) the specified notebooks at step 928. After step 928, the downlinkcontrol unit 128 (FIG. 3) retrieves specified titles at step 930. Next,the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 2) retrieves specified videos atstep 932. Following step 932, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 2.)retrieves specified audio at step 934. Subsequent to 934, the downlinkcontrol unit 128 (FIG. 2) retrieves a specified background at step 936.Finally at step 938, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 2) returns tostep 834 (FIG. 23) with the entry of the specified notebook, title,video, audio and background.

FIG. 32 represents an alternative embodiment for the process queryroutine 832 which is more general than the exemplary embodimentdiscussed in reference to FIGS. 25-31. From the query obtained from step840 (FIG. 24) of the get query routine 826 (FIG. 23) and tested at step828 (FIG. 23), the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) in step 940determines if the query is title specific. In order to determine whetherthe query is title specific, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3)accesses the promotion sequence rule 110 (FIG. 9) in the downlinkdatabase 130 (FIG. 3). For example, the query contains a keyword “title”which may be set to a specific title or no title.

If title is not specific, i.e. “title=non” in the query, then thedownlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) in step 942 selects multimediaelements based on a promotion type specified in the query. The query mayhave a keyword “base type” that can be set to various promotion types610 (FIG. 19). The base type, for example, can be set to “bumper” whichis a video clip that advertises the promotional video service (e.g.,“Sneak Prevue”) on which the bumper is being provided. In order toselect the multimedia based on the promotion type, the downlink controlunit 128 (FIG. 3) accesses the local media 426 (FIG. 10) and globalmedia 432 (FIG. 10) of the downlink database 130 (FIG. 3). The bumperwould be found in the global media 432 (FIG. 10). An example ofmultimedia to be found in the local media 426 (FIG. 10) is “retail”which is a video clip specifically designed to promote the programs ofmultiple system operators such as TCI of Tulsa or Time Warner of NewYork.

If title is determined to be specific in step 940, the downlink controlunit 128 (FIG. 3) in step 944 screens out some of these specified titlesbased on a promotion range. The promotion range, for example, may be set“from thirty minutes to two hours.”The downlink control unit 128 (FIG.3) accesses the standard title 428 (FIG. 10) and selects titles ofevents that fall into this time range. The downlink control unit 128(FIG. 3) also accesses the configurations 418 (FIG. 10) or sourceschedule 430 (FIG. 10) in order to select titles in promotion range. Forexample, the channel lineup 42′0 (FIG. 10) provides the list of sourcessuch as HBO and Cinemax to run step 944 and sources' respective channelnumbers, while the source schedule 430 (FIG. 10) provides informationabout the availability of titles from a particular source at aparticular time.

In step 946, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) applies filters tofurther select the titles. The query, for example, may contain a filterselecting only the first showing of a movie referred to as a“premiering”. The downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) applies thesefilters for filtering out every title except the ones related topremiering. In another instance, the query may contain filters requiringsports events, movies starring John Wayne, or movies having a rating ofabove PG-13. Yet another example is a daytime filter to be effectiveonly during the daytime for filtering out titles of events that are notsuited to children. Similar to step 944 the downlink control unit 128(FIG. 3) in step 946 accesses the configuration 418 (FIG. 10), channellineup 420 (FIG. 10), customer source 422 (FIG. 10), standard title 428(FIG. 10) and source schedule 430 (FIG. 10). In addition, the downlinkcontrol unit 128 (FIG. 3) in step 946 utilizes the data from the querygenerated in step 840.

In step 948, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) sorts the resultsfrom step 946. For example, the results may be sorted by the time to beaired, the channel or the time of the last promotion. More specifically,the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) accesses the standard title 428(FIG. 10) and utilizes the field contained in each title for sorting.The downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) accesses the global media 432(FIG. 10) in the downlink database 130 (FIG. 3), which containsnotebooks in addition to video, audio and bitmaps.

In step 952, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) scans the selectednotebooks from step 950 and scans the downlink database 130 (FIG. 3) forthe media objects required by the selected notebooks. More particularlythe downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) searches the global media 432(FIG. 10) and local media 426 (FIG. 10) to locate, for example, requiredaudio and bitmap pieces.

In step 954, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) removes all thosetitles that do not have the required media objects. For example, if thetitle is related to a notebook whose audio clip is not present in theglobal media 432 (FIG. 10), the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3)removes that title from the list of available titles.

In step 956, the downlink, control unit 128 (FIG. 3) determines if theminimum number of the titles required for a particular query is met. Forexample, the query obtained from step 840 (FIG. 24) may specify thatthree titles are required. The downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3)determines whether the number of available titles after step 954 is morethan three as required by the query.

If the minimum number is not met, the downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3)in step 958 indicates the failure of the process query routine 832 to anoperator on the service monitor 129 (FIG. 3) at the downlink computersystem 114 (FIG. 1).

If the minimum number of titles are determined to be available, thedownlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) in step 960 may prompt a successmessage to an operator. The downlink control unit 128 (FIG. 3) alsoreturns the available titles responsive to the query back to the step834 (FIG. 23) in order to generate an explicit schedule.

Flexibility and customizing capability of the multimedia distributionand broadcast system 100 (FIG. 1) of this invention enable an effectivescheduling of multimedia sequences with desired display arrangements.The timely and entertaining information provided to viewers by themultimedia distribution and broadcast system 100 (FIG. 1) contributes toan increased revenue stream to the remote downlink facility 106 (FIG.1).

Although the present invention has been described in the context of apromotional video service, it should be understood that the principlesof the invention may be used in other contexts. For example, the presentinvention may be used to deliver a program guide that has variousmultimedia components, such as textual program listings, and videoclips, to television viewers.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can bepracticed by other than the described embodiments, which are presentedfor purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the presentinvention is limited only by the claims that follow.

1-61. (canceled)
 62. A method for providing multimedia having one ormore multimedia elements by a central multimedia provider to a remotestation and in which a promotion screen that contains at least one ofthe one or more multimedia elements and that is generated by the remotestation is broadcasted by the remote station to a plurality of viewers,the method comprising the steps of: storing multimedia and controlinformation including characteristic properties of the multimedia in acentral database at the central multimedia provider; generating thecontrol information including characteristic properties of themultimedia in a central database at the central multimedia provider;generating the control information at the central multimedia provider;transmitting the multimedia and control information from the centralmultimedia provider to the remote station; selecting a multimediaelement of the multimedia based on the characteristic properties; andgenerating a promotion screen that displays the selected multimediaelement.
 63. The method of claim 62 wherein: the characteristicproperties include a type of an event promoted by the selectedmultimedia element; and the step of selecting a multimedia element ofthe multimedia based on the characteristic properties comprisesselecting a multimedia element of the multimedia based on the type of anevent promoted by the selected multimedia element characteristicproperty.
 64. The method of claim 62 wherein: the characteristicproperties include a rating of an event promoted by the selectedmultimedia element; and the step of selecting a multimedia element ofthe multimedia based on the characteristic properties comprisesselecting a multimedia element of the multimedia based on the rating ofan event promoted by the selected multimedia element characteristicproperty.
 65. The method of claim 62 wherein: the characteristicproperties include a duration of the selected multimedia element; andthe step of selecting a multimedia element of the multimedia based onthe characteristic properties comprises selecting a multimedia elementthe multimedia based on the duration of the selected multimedia elementcharacteristic property.
 66. The method of claim 62 wherein: thecharacteristic properties include a rating of the selected multimediaelement; and the step of selecting a multimedia element of themultimedia based on the characteristic properties comprises selecting amultimedia element of the multimedia based on the rating of the selectedmultimedia element characteristic property.
 67. The method of claim 62wherein: the characteristic properties include an actor's name of anactor included in the selected multimedia element; and the step ofselecting a multimedia element of the multimedia based on thecharacteristic properties comprises selecting a multimedia element ofthe multimedia based on the actor's name of an actor included in theselected multimedia element.
 68. The method of claim 62 wherein: thecharacteristic properties include a network source of the selectedmultimedia element; the step of selecting a multimedia element from theone or more multimedia elements based on the characteristic propertiescomprises selecting a multimedia element from the one or more multimediaelements based on the network source of the selected multimedia element.69. The method of claim 62 wherein: the control information furtherincludes a query; and the step of selecting a multimedia element of themultimedia based on the characteristic properties comprises selecting amultimedia element of the multimedia using the query.
 70. The method ofclaim 62 wherein: the characteristic properties include a genre ofevents promoted by the multimedia; and the step of selecting amultimedia element based on the characteristic properties comprisesselecting a multimedia element of the multimedia based on the genre ofevents promoted by the multimedia.
 71. The method of claim 62 wherein:the multimedia comprises local media; the control information comprisescharacteristic properties of the local media; and the step of selectinga multimedia element based on the characteristic properties comprisesselecting a multimedia element of the multimedia based on thecharacteristic properties of the local multimedia.
 72. The method ofclaim 62 wherein the local multimedia comprises local multimedia for aspecial promotion.
 73. The method of claim 62, further comprising thestep of sending a confirmation message to the central media providerwhen the multimedia and control information are successfully transmittedby the transmitter from the central media provider to the remotestation.
 74. The method of claim 62, further comprising the step ofretransmitting the multimedia and control information to the remotestation after the receiver does not receive the multimedia and controlinformation transmitted by the transmitter.
 75. A method for providingmultimedia having one or more multimedia elements by a centralmultimedia provider to a remote station and in which a promotion screenthat contains at least one of the one or more multimedia elements andthat is generated by the remote station is broadcasted by the remotestation to a plurality of viewers, the method comprising the steps of:storing multimedia and control information in a central database at thecentral multimedia provider, generating the control information;generating a plurality of prioritized schedules for constructing animplicit schedule at the central multimedia provider; transmitting themultimedia and control information from the central multimedia providerto the remote station; and generating a promotion screen at the remotestation that displays multimedia based on an implicit scheduleconstructed from the plurality of prioritized schedules.
 76. The methodof claim 75 wherein: the control information further includes a set ofqueries and characteristic properties of the multimedia; the step oftransmitting the multimedia and control information from the centralmultimedia provider to the remote station comprises transmitting theplurality of prioritized schedules from the central multimedia providerto the remote station; the method further comprises the step ofconstructing an implicit schedule at the remote station by combining theplurality of prioritized schedules; the method further comprises thestep of processing the queries at the remote station to convert theimplicit schedule to an explicit schedule by selecting a multimediaelement for use in a multimedia sequence based on characteristicproperties of the multimedia; and the step of generating a promotionscreen at the remote station that displays multimedia based on animplicit schedule constructed from the plurality of prioritizedschedules comprises generating a promotion screen at the remote stationthat displays multimedia according to the explicit schedule based on theimplicit schedule.
 77. The method of claim 75 wherein: the step ofgenerating the control information at the central multimedia providercomprises constructing the implicit schedule by combining the pluralityof prioritized schedules at the central multimedia provider; the step oftransmitting the multimedia and control information from the centralmultimedia provider to the remote station comprises transmitting theimplicit schedule from the central multimedia provider to the remotestation; the method further comprises the step of converting theimplicit schedule to an explicit schedule at the remote station byprocessing each query and selecting a multimedia element based on thecharacteristic properties of the multimedia according to each query; andthe step of generating a promotion screen of the remote station thatdisplays multimedia based on an implicit schedule comprises generatingthe promotion screen displaying multimedia according to the explicitschedule based on the implicit schedule.
 78. The method of claim 75wherein: the plurality of prioritized schedules include a nationalschedule configured to place national multimedia in the implicitschedule; and the step of generating a promotion screen at the remotestation constructed from the plurality of prioritized schedulescomprises generating a promotion screen at the remote station thatdisplays multimedia based on an implicit schedule constructed from theplurality of prioritized schedules that includes the national schedule.79. The method of claim 75 wherein: the plurality of prioritizedschedules include a local schedule configured to place local multimediain the implicit schedule; and the step of generating a promotion screenat the remote station that displays multimedia based on an implicitschedule constructed from the plurality of prioritized schedulescomprises generating a promotion screen at the remote station thatdisplays multimedia based on an implicit schedule constructed from theplurality of prioritized schedules that includes the local schedule. 80.The method of claim 75 wherein the plurality of prioritized schedulesinclude an interrupt schedule configured to place multimedia at apredetermined frequency in the implicit schedule; and the step ofgenerating a promotion screen at the remote station that displaysmultimedia based on an implicit schedule constructed from the pluralityof prioritized schedules comprises generating a promotion screen at theremote station that displays multimedia based on an implicit scheduleconstructed from the plurality of prioritized schedules that includesthe interrupt schedule.
 81. The method of claim 75 wherein: theplurality of prioritized schedules include a filler schedule configuredto fill in spaces in the implicit schedule; and the step of generating apromotion screen at the remote station that displays multimedia based onan implicit schedule constructed from the plurality of prioritizedschedules comprises generating a promotion screen at the remote stationthat displays multimedia based on an implicit schedule constructed fromthe plurality of prioritized schedules that includes the fillerschedule.
 82. The method of claim 75 further comprising the step ofsending a confirmation message to the central media provider when themultimedia and control information are successfully transmitted by thetransmitter from the central media provider to the remote station. 83.The method of claim 75 further comprising the step of retransmitting themultimedia and control information to the remote station after thereceiver does not receive the multimedia and control informationtransmitted by the transmitter.
 84. A system for providing multimediahaving one or more multimedia elements by a central multimedia providerto a remote station and in which a promotion screen that contains atleast one of the one or more multimedia elements and that is generatedby the remote station is broadcasted by the remote station to aplurality of viewers, the system comprising: control circuitryconfigured to: store multimedia and control information includingcharacteristic properties of the multimedia in a central database at thecentral multimedia provider; generate the control information includingcharacteristic properties of the multimedia in a central database at thecentral multimedia provider; generate the control information at thecentral multimedia provider; transmit the multimedia and controlinformation from the central multimedia provider to the remote station;select a multimedia element of the multimedia based on thecharacteristic properties; and generate a promotion screen that displaysthe selected multimedia element.
 85. The system of claim 84 wherein: thecharacteristic properties include a type of an event promoted by theselected multimedia element; and the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to: select a multimedia element of the multimedia based onthe characteristic properties comprises selecting a multimedia elementof the multimedia based on the type of an event promoted by the selectedmultimedia element characteristic property.
 86. The system of claim 84wherein: the characteristic properties include a rating of an eventpromoted by the selected multimedia element; and the control circuitryis further configured to: select a multimedia element of the multimediabased on the characteristic properties comprises selecting a multimediaelement of the multimedia based on the rating of an event promoted bythe selected multimedia element characteristic property.
 87. The systemof claim 84 wherein: the characteristic properties include a duration ofthe selected multimedia element; and the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to: select a multimedia element of the multimedia based onthe characteristic properties comprises selecting a multimedia elementthe multimedia based on the duration of the selected multimedia elementcharacteristic property.
 88. The system of claim 84 wherein: thecharacteristic properties include a rating of the selected multimediaelement; and the control circuitry is further configured to: select amultimedia element of the multimedia based on the characteristicproperties comprises selecting a multimedia element of the multimediabased on the rating of the selected multimedia element characteristicproperty.
 89. The system of claim 84 wherein: the characteristicproperties include an actor's name of an actor included in the selectedmultimedia element; and the control circuitry is further configured to:select a multimedia element of the multimedia based on thecharacteristic properties comprises selecting a multimedia element ofthe multimedia based on the actor's name of an actor included in theselected multimedia element.
 90. The system of claim 84 wherein: thecharacteristic properties include a network source of the selectedmultimedia element; and the control circuitry is further configured to:select a multimedia element from the one or more multimedia elementsbased on the characteristic properties comprises selecting a multimediaelement from the one or more multimedia elements based on the networksource of the selected multimedia element.
 91. The system of claim 84wherein: the control information further includes a query; and thecontrol circuitry is further configured to: select a multimedia elementof the multimedia based on the characteristic properties comprisesselecting a multimedia element of the multimedia using the query. 92.The system of claim 84 wherein: the characteristic properties include agenre of events promoted by the multimedia; and the control circuitry isfurther configured to: select a multimedia element based on thecharacteristic properties comprises selecting a multimedia element ofthe multimedia based on the genre of events promoted by the multimedia.93. The system of claim 84 wherein: the multimedia comprises localmedia; the control information comprises characteristic properties ofthe local media; and the control circuitry is further configured to:select a multimedia element based on the characteristic propertiescomprises selecting a multimedia element of the multimedia based on thecharacteristic properties of the local multimedia.
 94. The system ofclaim 84 wherein the local multimedia comprises local multimedia for aspecial promotion.
 95. The system of claim 84 wherein the controlcircuitry is further configured to: send a confirmation message to thecentral media provider when the multimedia and control information aresuccessfully transmitted by the transmitter from the central mediaprovider to the remote station.
 96. The system of claim 84 wherein thecontrol circuitry is further configured to: retransmit the multimediaand control information to the remote station after the receiver doesnot receive the multimedia and control information transmitted by thetransmitter.
 97. A system for providing multimedia having one or moremultimedia elements by a central multimedia provider to a remote stationand in which a promotion screen that contains at least one of the one ormore multimedia elements and that is generated by the remote station isbroadcasted by the remote station to a plurality of viewers, the systemcomprising: control circuitry configured to: store multimedia andcontrol information in a central database at the central multimediaprovider, generate the control information; generate a plurality ofprioritized schedules for constructing an implicit schedule at thecentral multimedia provider; transmit the multimedia and controlinformation from the central multimedia provider to the remote station;and generate a promotion screen at the remote station that displaysmultimedia based on an implicit schedule constructed from the pluralityof prioritized schedules.
 98. The system of claim 97 wherein: thecontrol information further includes a set of queries and characteristicproperties of the multimedia; and the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to: transmit the multimedia and control information from thecentral multimedia provider to the remote station comprises transmittingthe plurality of prioritized schedules from the central multimediaprovider to the remote station; construct an implicit schedule at theremote station by combining the plurality of prioritized schedules;process the queries at the remote station to convert the implicitschedule to an explicit schedule by selecting a multimedia element foruse in a multimedia sequence based on characteristic properties of themultimedia; and generate a promotion screen at the remote station thatdisplays multimedia based on an implicit schedule constructed from theplurality of prioritized schedules comprises generating a promotionscreen at the remote station that displays multimedia according to theexplicit schedule based on the implicit schedule.
 99. The system ofclaim 97 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:generate the control information at the central multimedia providercomprises constructing the implicit schedule by combining the pluralityof prioritized schedules at the central multimedia provider; transmitthe multimedia and control information from the central multimediaprovider to the remote station comprises transmitting the implicitschedule from the central multimedia provider to the remote station;convert the implicit schedule to an explicit schedule at the remotestation by processing each query and selecting a multimedia elementbased on the characteristic properties of the multimedia according toeach query; and generate a promotion screen of the remote station thatdisplays multimedia based on an implicit schedule comprises generatingthe promotion screen displaying multimedia according to the explicitschedule based on the implicit schedule.
 100. The system of claim 97wherein: the plurality of prioritized schedules include a nationalschedule configured to place national multimedia in the implicitschedule; and the control circuitry is further configured to: generate apromotion screen at the remote station constructed from the plurality ofprioritized schedules comprises generating a promotion screen at theremote station that displays multimedia based on an implicit scheduleconstructed from the plurality of prioritized schedules that includesthe national schedule.
 101. The system of claim 97 wherein: theplurality of prioritized schedules include a local schedule configuredto place local multimedia in the implicit schedule; and the controlcircuitry is further configured to: generate a promotion screen at theremote station that displays multimedia based on an implicit scheduleconstructed from the plurality of prioritized schedules comprisesgenerating a promotion screen at the remote station that displaysmultimedia based on an implicit schedule constructed from the pluralityof prioritized schedules that includes the local schedule.
 102. Themultimedia distribution system of claim 97 wherein the plurality ofprioritized schedules include an interrupt schedule configured to placemultimedia at a predetermined frequency in the implicit schedule; andthe control circuitry is further configured to: generate a promotionscreen at the remote station that displays multimedia based on animplicit schedule constructed from the plurality of prioritizedschedules comprises generating a promotion screen at the remote stationthat displays multimedia based on an implicit schedule constructed fromthe plurality of prioritized schedules that includes the interruptschedule.
 103. The system of claim 97 wherein: the plurality ofprioritized schedules include a filler schedule configured to fill inspaces in the implicit schedule; and the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to: generate a promotion screen at the remote station thatdisplays multimedia based on an implicit schedule constructed from theplurality of prioritized schedules comprises generating a promotionscreen at the remote station that displays multimedia based on animplicit schedule constructed from the plurality of prioritizedschedules that includes the filler schedule.
 104. The system of claim 97wherein the control circuitry is further configured to: send aconfirmation message to the central media provider when the multimediaand control information are successfully transmitted by the transmitterfrom the central media provider to the remote station.
 105. The systemof claim 97 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:retransmit the multimedia and control information to the remote stationafter the receiver does not receive the multimedia and controlinformation transmitted by the transmitter.